The state gives shoppers another reason to stay home
The state gives shoppers another reason to stay home
Good morning,
Yesterday’s planned Charles River Regional Chamber debate between incumbent state Sen. Will Brownsberger and challenger Daniel Lander has moved to Thursday, Aug. 20 at 1 p.m., due to a death in the senator's family.
The district covers Watertown, Belmont and parts of Boston and Cambridge and is among the closest-watched primary contests in the state
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Four homes? Apparently, that’s asking too much
Eight months after he was sworn in as a Newton City Councilor, Brian Golden delivered his first speech on the council floor last night.
It was a short but eloquent statement in support of a seemingly no-brainer proposal to allow a builder to replace a two-family house on a residential street in Newtonville with four attached single-family homes.
Golden — executive director of the Mass. State College Building Authority and a former state rep who once ran the Boston Planning & Development Agency under Boston Mayors Menino and Walsh — praised the project for its design, number of units and the way it blended into the neighborhood.
But mostly, Golden said, "It's impossible for me to lose sight of how far behind Newton and the state are on building for human beings who need housing…. I do not want to forgo opportunities that are here right now that will yield housing for people who need it."
It didn't help. Neither did the letter we sent last week.
Golden and his colleagues voted 13-11 in support of the project at 60 Brookside Ave. But the special permit needed 16 votes to prevail.
Sorry, human beings who need housing, it’s not happening.
I don’t need to detail the objectors' objections, because we’ve heard them before: It doesn’t fit the neighborhood’s character; it's not going to solve the affordable housing shortage; we shouldn’t make exceptions to the zoning rules, we should reform the rules first.
Oh, there was one councilor who voted no partly because the proposed units (the largest would have been 2,300 SF) were bigger than her house.
Now, the developer will likely build one massive house at 60 Brookside instead — no council approval required.
The state gives shoppers another reason to stay home
Over 7,200 of the state’s retailers just lost another reason why a customer might walk through their doors.
That's how many merchants are authorized to sell Mass Lottery tickets but now face a new competitor in the Commonwealth itself, which just launched a direct-sales app.
Not every customer who buys Mass Cash, Powerball or slot machine-style instant-win games is going to switch to buying those same tickets on their phone.
But for a segment of privately owned businesses, the potential loss is substantial.
Retailers earn a 5% commission on lottery sales plus a 1% bonus on winning tickets cashed in-store — averaging $50,000 in profit per retailer annually, according to Marilyn Schairer at GBH.
More importantly, many worry they'll lose customers who came in for a scratch ticket but would leave with a bag of chips, a loaf of bread, or a beverage.
"Whatever those reasons may be, the state just decided that they're gonna give [shoppers] one more reason not to step into a brick and mortar store," Ryan Maloney, owner of Julio's Liquors in Westborough, tells the Globe's Jaden Perry.
"We've been there for [Mass Lottery] since the beginning, and now they can simply just bypass us and sell direct to consumers," said Joe Dion, owner of Dion's Fine Wine in Nonantum and Waltham. "It's just not right."
Mass. Lottery tells Perry they're considering offering retailers exclusive in-person games — but considering online sales have been in the works since 2024, you'd think they might have already put that in place.
‘Transformative’ Watertown lab bet pays off
LifeMine Therapeutics, a Watertown life science company exploring new medicines hiding in fungi, just raised $263 million to accelerate development.
It's also a win for Davis Companies and Boston Development Group, which lured entrepreneur Greg Verdine to lease 120,000 SF of their once virtually empty 224,000 SF lab building at 66 Galen St. in Watertown Square two years ago.
Two of Verdine's other startups, VidaVinci and DoveTree, are also there, along with Labshares, Psivant and NanoDx. 66 Galen is now virtually full, an anomaly in today's lab real estate market. (The Globe called it the "hottest lab market in Greater Boston.")
"I'm a big believer that real estate can be transformative," Verdine told the Globe's Jon Chesto, "This was intended to be transformative for Watertown Square. It can also be transformative for [our] companies."
Tuesday grab bag
- The Economic Development Bill currently being negotiated on Beacon Hill includes three major housing reforms worthy of support: YIGBY, duplexes by-right, and site plan review. Our friends at CHAPA have created this page to make it simple to contact your legislator.
- The Town of Brookline is considering a new outdoor lighting ordinance that could require businesses and property owners across town to change or alter their exterior lighting or turn off lighting 30 minutes after closing, or 11 p.m., whichever is later. FAQ page.
- A substantial portion of the Green Line is closed through Sunday (Aug. 16). There’s no train service between all underground stops and from Kenmore to Cleveland Circle (on the C branch) and Babcock Street (on the B branch). (WBUR)
- Watertown’s Community Development and Planning Department moved from City Hall to their new digs at the Parker Building yesterday. (Watertown News)
- Abbott's Frozen Custard in Lexington has closed, making the Needham location the company’s last in Massachusetts.
- Under a new state law, employers who receive an ICE notice of 1-9 inspections must tell affected employees in writing within 48 hours unless federal law says otherwise.
- Arsenal Yards hosts Trivia Pub Crawl, next Tuesday (Aug. 18), 6-9 p.m. Proceeds benefit the Watertown Food Pantry.
- Chapters on Chestnut, a new bookstore and cafe already planning to open in Needham Center later this year, is also taking over the space next door, formerly Wesleaf Designs and Decor at 1020 Great Plain Ave. (Needham Observer)
- Newton City Councilors Tarik Lucas and Sean Roche are rarely on the same side of many issues. But they’re proposing to ban cryptocurrency ATMs, kiosks, or any self-service machine in a public location that enables users to sell, buy, exchange, or transfer cryptocurrency.
- Nice to see Fig City News intern Leah Greiner’s lovely interview with Jeffrey and Mara DeBonee, owners of Sandwich Works in Newton Centre, family-run for more than 40 years.
- Sorry, tomorrow’s Needham Night celebration is sold out. Waitlist here.
Remembering Robert Danziger, 92
Our condolences to family, friends and colleagues of Robert Danziger.
A Newton resident, Danziger founded Northland Investment Corp. in 1970 and served as president and CEO for 25 years.
Early in his tenure, he secured the company's first piece of land — Marshalls Plaza on Needham St. in Newton. That deal eventually led to the company's now-under-construction mixed-use project, Pattern District.
Today, Northland manages a real estate portfolio that includes tens of thousands of residential units and millions of square feet of commercial space nationwide.
What Auchincloss said at last week’s housing event
Those infuriating local roadblocks to building even the smallest of housing projects (such as the meeting I just told you about in Newton) are why Congressman Jake Auchincloss – a former Newton City Councilor – announced his support for Question 7, the Starter Home ballot question, along with other state zoning reforms at our chamber's Young Professionals Housing Town Hall last week.
Auchincloss also spoke about recent federal housing legislation and his own ideas for "helping millennials and Gen Z reach that first rung of the American Dream where you get a sense of stability and start a family and plan for the future in a stable way."
After his opening comments, Auchincloss also did something he keeps getting better at: listening and responding to constituents. Watch the replay here.
That’s what you need to know for today — Jackson Pollock died on this day 70 years ago — unless you need to know that you can bring your own food into Fenway.
Max Woolf will be in this driver’s seat on Friday and next Tuesday.
President & CEO
Charles River Regional Chamber
617.244.1688
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Max Woolf contributed to today’s newsletter.